System and Method For Enabling Interactions Between a Policy Decision Point and a Charging System

ABSTRACT

A system and method for telecommunications operators to enable group based dynamic policy controls for both pre-paid and post-paid subscribers, who are typically not managed in an Online Charging System (OCS), but rather in an Charging System or a Billing System. Examples of policy controls that may be enabled by this invention include tracking spending for post-paid subscribers, managing subscriber usage across fixed-line and mobile networks, and so on. This is achieved by introducing a new component called the Enhanced Charging System (ECS) and creating a new reference point and interface between the Policy Management System and the ECS.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 61/591,497, titled “System and Method for EnablingInteractions Between a Policy Decision Point and an Offline ChargingSystem” filed Jan. 27, 2012 the entire contents of which is herebyincorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

Wireless and cellular communication technologies have seen dramaticimprovements over the past few years. Cellular service providers nowoffer users a wide array of services, higher usage limits and attractivesubscription plans. Wireless dongles and embedded wireless modem cardsallow users to use tablet computers, netbooks and laptops to accesswireless Internet protocol (IP) and data services through the cellularnetworks. User Equipment (UE), such as Internet-enabled smart phones,tablets and gaming consoles, have become essential personal accessories,connecting users to friends, work, leisure activities and entertainment.Users now have more choices and expect to have access to content, dataand communications at any time, in any place. As more users utilizethese services, telecommunication system operator networks must expandto meet the increase in user demand, support the array of new servicesand provide fast, reliable communications.

As telecommunications operators upgrade to next generation networktechnologies and as subscribers consume increasing amounts ofhigh-bandwidth content via their UEs across fixed and wireless networks,there is a growing need for both telecommunications network operatorsand their subscribers to better monitor their network usage and relatedspending.

Existing solutions for tracking usage and spending are generally focusedon prepaid customers, and are typically implemented in an onlinecharging system (OCS) of a policy and charging control network. Asoperators deploy new and additional policy management systems andsolutions in their networks, the focus of tracking solutions will shiftfrom prepaid customers and the OCS, to enabling interactions betweencharging systems and policy management systems to enforce policies(e.g., lowering data speeds, limiting access to content/applications,etc.) in the telecommunications network based on the subscriber'sspending limits, credit state, user-defined parental controls, and othersubscriber- or charging-related information. Accordingly, improving thearchitecture of policy and charging systems to better supportinteractions between online and offline charging systems and policymanagement systems will be beneficial to network operators and theirconsumers.

SUMMARY

The various embodiments include methods of managing group-based chargingfor network usage and spending in a communications network, which mayinclude receiving in a processor a subscription request that includes acharging attribute from a listener component, determining whether thesubscription request identifies a group of user equipments, determiningthe group of user equipments to which a user equipment associated withthe subscription request belongs when it is determined that thesubscription request does not identify a group of user equipments,determining an identity of at least one other user equipment in thegroup of user equipments, and determining a charging attribute state forthe group of user equipments based on the charging attribute.

In an embodiment, the method may include receiving a charging event thatidentifies a user equipment from a charging component, applying thecharging event, determining whether the user equipment identified in thecharging event is a member of the group of user equipments identified inthe subscription request, determining whether the charging attributestate of the group of user equipments has changed, and notifying thelistener component that the charging attribute state of the group ofuser equipments identified in the subscription request has changed. In afurther embodiment, the listener component may be a policy managementsystem component. In a further embodiment, the user equipment may be amachine-to-machine device. In a further embodiment, the chargingcomponent may be a policy enforcement system component. In a furtherembodiment, the charging event may relate to a service in a circuitswitched domain. In a further embodiment, determining a chargingattribute state for the group of user equipments based on the chargingattribute may include obtaining charging information associated withmultiple user equipments from multiple sources relating to multipleservices.

In a further embodiment, the multiple sources may include at least oneonline charging system and at least one offline charging system. In afurther embodiment, determining a charging attribute state for the groupof user equipments based on the charging attribute may includeaggregating charging information associated with all user equipmentswithin the group of user equipments. In a further embodiment,determining whether the subscription request identifies a group of userequipments may include determining whether the subscription requestidentifies a group related to a corporate account. In a furtherembodiment, determining a charging attribute state for the group of userequipments based on the charging attribute may include returning thecharging attribute state to the listener component. In a furtherembodiment, notifying the listener component that the charging attributestate of the group of user equipments identified in the subscriptionrequest has changed may include notifying the listener component of anew charging attribute state.

Further embodiments include a server configured for managing group-basedcharging for network usage and spending in a communications network,including a network interface, and a server processor configured withprocessor-executable instructions to perform operations includingreceiving in a processor a subscription request that includes a chargingattribute from a listener component, determining whether thesubscription request identifies a group of user equipments, determiningthe group of user equipments to which a user equipment associated withthe subscription request belongs when it is determined that thesubscription request does not identify a group of user equipments,determining an identity of at least one other user equipment in thegroup of user equipments, and determining a charging attribute state forthe group of user equipments based on the charging attribute. In anembodiment, the server processor may be configured withprocessor-executable instructions to perform operations furtherincluding receiving a charging event that identifies a user equipmentfrom a charging component, applying the charging event, determiningwhether the user equipment identified in the charging event is a memberof the group of user equipments identified in the subscription request,determining whether the charging attribute state of the group of userequipments has changed, and notifying the listener component that thecharging attribute state of the group of user equipments identified inthe subscription request has changed.

Further embodiments include a non-transitory server-readable storagemedium having stored thereon server-executable configured cause a serverto perform operations for managing group-based charging for networkusage and spending in a communications network including receiving in aprocessor a subscription request that includes a charging attribute froma listener component, determining whether the subscription requestidentifies a group of user equipments, determining the group of userequipments to which a user equipment associated with the subscriptionrequest belongs when it is determined that the subscription request doesnot identify a group of user equipments, determining an identity of atleast one other user equipment in the group of user equipments, anddetermining a charging attribute state for the group of user equipmentsbased on the charging attribute. In an embodiment, the storedserver-executable instructions may be configured cause a server toperform operations further including receiving a charging event thatidentifies a user equipment from a charging component, applying thecharging event, determining whether the user equipment identified in thecharging event is a member of the group of user equipments identified inthe subscription request, determining whether the charging attributestate of the group of user equipments has changed, and notifying thelistener component that the charging attribute state of the group ofuser equipments identified in the subscription request has changed.

Further embodiments may include a computing device having a processorconfigured with processor-executable instructions to perform variousoperations corresponding to the methods discussed above.

Further embodiments may include a computing device having various meansfor performing functions corresponding to the method operationsdiscussed above.

Further embodiments may include a non-transitory processor-readablestorage medium having stored thereon processor-executable instructionsconfigured to cause a processor to perform various operationscorresponding to the method operations discussed above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and constitutepart of this specification, illustrate exemplary embodiments of theinvention, and together with the general description given above and thedetailed description given below, serve to explain the features of theinvention.

FIG. 1 is a network system diagram of a current state architecture forpolicy and charging controls in a telecommunications network.

FIG. 2 network system diagram of another current state architecture forpolicy and charging controls in a telecommunications network.

FIGS. 3-6 are network system diagrams of policy and charging controls ina telecommunications network according to various embodiments.

FIG. 7 is an architectural diagram illustrating components suitable foruse with the embodiments.

FIG. 8 is a process flow diagram illustrating an embodiment method.

FIGS. 9A-B are screenshots of example user interface displays accordingto various embodiments.

FIG. 10 is a system block diagram of a wireless communication device foruse with various embodiments.

FIG. 11 is a system block diagram of a server suitable for use withvarious embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The various embodiments will be described in detail with reference tothe accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numberswill be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.References made to particular examples and implementations are forillustrative purposes, and are not intended to limit the scope of theinvention or the claims.

The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example,instance, or illustration.” Any implementation described herein as“exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred oradvantageous over other implementations.

The terms “mobile device,” “wireless device” and “user equipment (UE)”may be used interchangeably and refer to any one of various cellulartelephones, smart-phones (e.g., iPhone®), personal data assistants(PDA's), palm-top computers, tablet computers, laptop computers,wireless electronic mail receivers (e.g., Blackberry®), VoIP phones,wire-line devices, devices implementing Machine-to-Machine (M2M)technologies, multimedia/Internet enabled cellular telephones, andsimilar electronic devices capable of sending and receiving wirelesscommunication signals. A wireless device may include a programmableprocessor and memory. In a preferred embodiment, the wireless device isa cellular handheld device (e.g., a mobile device), which cancommunicate via a cellular telephone communications network.

A number of different cellular and mobile communication services andstandards are available or contemplated in the future, all of which mayimplement and benefit from the various embodiments. Such services andstandards include, e.g., third generation partnership project (3GPP),long term evolution (LTE) systems, third generation wireless mobilecommunication technology (3G), fourth generation wireless mobilecommunication technology (4G), global system for mobile communications(GSM), universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS), 3GSM, generalpacket radio service (GPRS), code division multiple access (CDMA)systems (e.g., cdmaOne, CDMA2000™), enhanced data rates for GSMevolution (EDGE), advanced mobile phone system (AMPS), digital AMPS(IS-136/TDMA), evolution-data optimized (EV-DO), digital enhancedcordless telecommunications (DECT), Worldwide Interoperability forMicrowave Access (WiMAX), wireless local area network (WLAN), Wi-FiProtected Access I & II (WPA, WPA2), and integrated digital enhancednetwork (iden). Each of these technologies involves, for example, thetransmission and reception of signaling and content messages. It shouldbe understood that any references to terminology and/or technicaldetails related to an individual standard or technology are forillustrative purposes only, and are not intended to limit the scope ofthe claims to a particular communication system or technology unlessspecifically recited in the claim language.

FIG. 1 illustrates logical components in the current state architecturefor policy and charging controls in a prior art telecommunicationsnetwork. The illustrated network 100 includes a subscriber managementsystem 102, an applications 104 component, policy management system 106,policy enforcement component 108, and a charging system 110 thatincludes an off-line charging 112 component and an on-line charging 114component.

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of the network 200 architectureillustrated in FIG. 1, which is the standard 3GPP Policy and ChargingControls (PCC) architecture for a mobile telecommunications network. Theexample illustrated in FIG. 2 is based on 3GPP Release 11. Theillustrated PCC network 200 may include one or more components for asubscriber profile repository (SPR) 202, an application function (AF)204, an on-line charging system (OCS) 206, a policy charging rulesfunction (PCRF) 208, a bearer binding and event reporting function(BBERF) 210, a traffic detection function (TDF) 212, a policy andcharging enforcement function (PCEF) 214, and an off-line chargingsystem (OFCS) 216.

FIG. 2 illustrates that existing networks 200 may include an Syreference point 218 between the PCRF 208 and the OCS 206. Currently, anoperator's OCS 206 typically manages only prepaid subscribers and as aresult applying dynamic policy controls to postpaid subscribers requiresenhancements to the current state architectures and networks 100, 200.

As telecommunications operators' deployment of policy management systemscontinues to evolve, especially in the mobile network domain, it isbecoming increasingly clear that gaps exist in some areas of theexisting standards and the policy and charging control (PCC) referencearchitecture.

Among these gaps, the current standards do not accommodate scenarios inwhich policy controls may be required for subscribers who are unknown tothe OCS 206; in general, these would be post-paid subscribers whosenetwork usage is not managed by the OCS 206. There is no definedreference point or prescribed interface between a Policy ManagementSystem and the OFCS 216, and existing OFCS 216 are typically unable totrack subscriber usage and spending in a similar manner to the OCS 206.

Another issue addressed by the various embodiments is that standards donot provide for an ability to address group of user equipments basedthresholds (i.e., thresholds based on groups). This gap in the standardsexists regardless of whether the subscribers are charged using an onlinecharging system or an offline charging system.

The various embodiment systems, servers, and methods overcome these andother limitations of existing solutions by providing an EnhancedCharging System (ECS) capable of tracking subscriber usage and spendingas the services are being consumed in the network. The variousembodiments may also include a new reference point and interface betweena policy management system and the ECS. This interface enablesnotifications to be triggered between the ECS and policy managementsystem when certain conditions have been met, such as when asubscriber's spending threshold has been exceeded. In variousembodiments, all or portions of the enhanced charging system, interface,and/or reference point may be implemented in a server oftelecommunications network as software, hardware, or any combinationthereof. In various embodiments, one or more portions of the abovementioned enhanced charging system, interface, and/or reference pointmay be implemented as software instructions executing on a processor ofa computing device (e.g., network server, computing device, UE, etc.).

While the description of the various embodiments use terminology from3GPP's mobile networks and systems architecture, various embodiments maybe extended to and deployed across other network domains, such asfixed-line (e.g., TISPAN and BBF), cable (e.g., PacketCable), WiMax(e.g., WiMax Forum) and so on. Furthermore, a single deployment of thisinvention may support multiple instances of the network domainsmentioned above.

An example architecture according to an embodiment of this invention isillustrated in FIG. 3. The main components of the architecture, as shownin FIG. 3 are discussed below.

FIG. 3 illustrates that the policy and charging network may include anEnhanced Charging 302 component that may collect information frommultiple network and other sources, process the collected information,and distribute the data to one or more downstream systems within theoperator's OSS/BSS environment, or to systems that are external to theoperator.

Network elements or components may send charging detail records to theEnhanced Charging 302 component and the SPR 202 provides subscriberinformation.

The enhancements to the existing OFCS 216 introduced by the EnhancedCharging 302 component may include a rating function, a spend velocitycalculator, and a spend monitor.

The Enhanced Charging 302 component may also trigger spendnotifications, for example to the Policy Management System 106 over thenewly introduced interface.

In various embodiments of this invention, the Enhanced Charging Systemmay be a Charging Gateway Function (CGF) or a Mediation System or aBilling System, which supports existing charging and also the newenhanced functions included in the ECS.

The Policy Management System 106 component determines the policies thatregulate subscribers' use of the telecommunications operator's network.These policies may be mandated by the telecommunications operator, orthey may be selected and configured by subscribers.

The Policy Management System 106 receives spend notifications from theEnhanced Charging 302 component system over the newly introducedinterface, and uses configured rules to trigger messages to subscribersand to implement appropriate policy actions on the subscriber'scurrently ongoing or subsequent network activity.

In the preferred embodiment of a 3G or 4G mobile network, the PolicyManagement System 106 is referred to as a Policy and Charging RulesFunction (PCRF).

In the preferred embodiment of a 3G or 4G mobile network, the proposednew reference point between the PCRF and the ECS may be labeled Sz.

In other embodiments of this invention the Policy Management System 106may be a Resource and Admission Control Subsystem (RACS), or a BroadbandPolicy Control Function (BPCF), or a PacketCable Application Manager(PAM) and Policy Server (PS).

The Online Charging System component applies rules that establishwhether subscribers are authorized to use a service, monitors theirongoing use of that service, determines the charges associated withconsumption of network resources, and whether subscribers' accountbalances are sufficient to support that use of the service.

The Subscriber Management System component manages and maintainsinformation relating to subscribers. Some of this information ispermanently managed by this component, such as user specificpreferences. Additionally, this component can retrieve information fromother components within the telecommunications operator's network andOSS/BSS environment. In the preferred embodiment of a 3G or 4G mobilenetwork, the Subscriber Management System is referred to as a SubscriberProfile Repository (SPR) or a User Data Repository (UDR).

FIG. 4 illustrates the architecture for the 3GPP embodiment of thisinvention for 3G or 4G mobile networks.

FIG. 5 shows the 3GPP PCC architecture for alternative embodiments ofthis invention for 3G or 4G mobile networks.

In an embodiment, the ECS may be deployed as a separate or adjunctcomponent from the OFCS. In such a deployment, the ECS supports only theenhanced functions while the OFCS continues to perform all existingoffline charging functions. In this embodiment, the Gz messages areexchanged between the PCEF and the OFCS via the ECS such that the OFCSdoes not need to be modified (not shown in FIG. 5).

In an embodiment, messages exchanged in the various functions may be“forked” in which the message is sent to more than one destination. InFIG. 5 message forking is illustrated by the flows Gz1 and Gz2. Avariety of known methods may be used to accomplish such message forking.In an embodiment, a Dynamic Context Router (DCR) component may bedeployed across the Gz reference point, as shown in FIG. 5. In such anembodiment the DCR may fork Gz messages to the ECS and the OFCS. Detailsregarding fork routing by a DCR component are disclosed in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/309,333, titled “Methods, Systems and Devicesfor Forked Routing,” filed on Dec. 1, 2011, relevant portions of whichare incorporated herein by reference.

This invention introduces new components and interfaces to help addressvarious challenges faced by operators as the next generation oftelecommunications networks continue to evolve in scale and complexity:

FIG. 6 presents an overview of the architecture of the ECS. As shown inFIG. 6, the ECS supports multiple input and output data streams. Theseinclude the following streams.

CDR Input stream includes one or more channels for the delivery ofCharging Data Records (CDRs) from network elements or other externalsystems to the ECS. The following protocols may be typically supportedin the CDR Input stream: GTP′; DIAMETER; RADIUS; FTP; FTAM; and IPDR andIPDR/SP.

Subscriber Information stream is the mechanism for the ECS to access thesubscriber information that it requires to perform its variousfunctions. Subscriber information may be retrieved by the ECS and cachedinternally to improve system performance. Subsequent updates tosubscriber information may be “pushed” to the ECS from the SPR/UDR.Examples of subscriber information available in this stream includeSubscription Plan, Spending Limits, Credit Status, etc.

Downstream Systems feeds is a function via which one or more externalsystems receive information from the ECS. Among the systems thattypically receive charging information are the billing system, partnersettlements systems, data warehouses, etc. If the ECS is part of thebilling system, then it may feed other systems within the operator'sOSS/BSS domain.

Spend Notifications is the mechanism for delivering notificationsrelated to subscriber spend events over a defined interface.

This notification interface may be implemented using various protocols,design paradigms and data formats, including for example: DIAMETER;SOAP/XML; XML-RPC; RESTful protocols; and JSON.

In an embodiment of this interface, the Policy Management System 106 maynotify the ECS of certain network events, such as session failure orresource unavailability. The events may enable the ECS to triggerpro-active credits to the subscriber's account balance and correspondingcredit notifications to the subscriber.

In an embodiment of this invention, notifications may be sentsimultaneously to the operator's third-party partners to communicate thechanges in subscriber account state. This may result in limits on thesubscriber's ability to use a partner's services when, for example,certain credit conditions are exceeded.

Other key functions of the ECS are described below.

Input Decoder is a function that is responsible for receiving CDRs fromthe input stream, validating the information, and extracting therelevant attributes that are required by the Rating Function.

Processing Module is a module which coordinates all the processing stepsfor the incoming CDRs including, for example, look-ups of subscriberdata that may be required to formulate a rating request for the RatingFunction.

Rating Function is a module which determines the charge associated witheach input CDR. The charge information may be used by other ECScomponents, such as the Spend Monitor and Spend Velocity Calculator.

In an embodiment, this charge may be permanently associated with the CDRand delivered to a downstream system as a “pre-rated” event.

In an embodiment, the Rating Function may automatically calculatecredits to be applied to a subscriber's account when the PolicyManagement System 106 indicates to the ECS that service delivery did notmeet the subscriber's Service Level Agreement targets. These credits maybe monetary or service units (data volume, time, loyalty points, etc.)depending on the defined business rules.

Spend Monitor is a function that is responsible for tracking subscriberspending. This spending may be monitored at varying levels ofgranularity, for example: Per subscriber; for a family or group of userequipments; for each service for a subscriber; for each member of afamily or group account; and so on.

Spend Velocity Calculator is a module which reports a subscriber'sinstantaneous spend velocity by sampling spending over a short period oftime:

${{Spend}\mspace{14mu} {Velocity}} = {{\lim\limits_{{\Delta \; t}\rightarrow 0}\frac{\Delta \; s}{\Delta \; t}} = {\frac{s}{t}.}}$

U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/537,419, titled “Mobile ApplicationServer that Enables Users to Directly Access Telecommunications OperatorServices” filed on Sep. 21, 2011, provides further details on the SpendVelocity Calculator function.

Subscribers' experience of this Invention is described in the followingparagraphs.

This invention may be integrated with a Mobile Application Server (MAS)in order to provide subscribers with the spend notifications and alsowith visibility into their usage, for example, spend velocity.

FIG. 7 shows a high-level view of how the MAS and ECS may be integratedto deliver an enhanced user visibility into their usage patterns.

Further details on the MAS and its capabilities are disclosed in U.S.Provisional Application No. 61/479,136, titled “Mobile ApplicationServer that Enables Users to Directly Access Telecommunications OperatorServices”, filed on Apr. 26, 2011, U.S. Provisional Application No.61/537,419, titled “Mobile Application Server that Enables Users toDirectly Access Telecommunications Operator Services”, filed on Sep. 21,2011, U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/546,818, titled “MobileApplication Server that Enables Users to Directly AccessTelecommunications Operator Services”, filed on Oct. 13, 2011, and U.S.patent application Ser. No. 13/309,333, titled “Methods, Systems andDevices for Forked Routing”, filed on Dec. 1, 2011, the entire contentsof all of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate examples of user experience displays and userinterfaces using ECS-MAS Integration according to an embodiment.

In an embodiment, the ECS may be new component that replaces (or is anenhancement to) and existing OCS/OFCS components.

In an embodiment, the ECS may be new component logically situatedbetween the PCEF and the OCS/OFCS components so that the PCEF interactswith the ECS in the same manner as it would with the OFCS, and viceversa. Thus, in an embodiment, the ECS may be a man-in-the-middlecomponent.

In an embodiment, the ECS may be a new component that receives Gzmessages that have been forked from the original Gz messages between thePCEF and the OFCS. In this embodiment, the ECS and the PCRF maycommunicate using Sz.

An embodiment method 800 of managing charging network usage and spendingin a communications network is illustrated in FIG. 8. The embodimentmethod 800 may include receiving in a processor a subscription requestthat includes a charging attribute from a listener component in block802, and determining whether the subscription request identifies a groupof user equipments (UEs) in determination block 804. If the subscriptionrequest does not identify a group of user equipments (i.e.,determination block 804=“No”), in block 808, the processor may determinethe group of user equipments to which a user equipment associated withthe subscription request belongs. When it is determined thatsubscription request does identify a group of user equipments (i.e.,determination block 804=“Yes”), in block 810, the processor maydetermine an identity of at least one other user equipment in the groupof user equipments. Based on the identity of the at least one other userequipment and the charging attribute, the method further includesdetermining a charging attribute state for the group of user equipmentsin block 812. For example, if two members of a group of mobile deviceshave usages charges that total more than the charging threshold for thegroup, then there is no need to consider the charges of other users inthe group. The method may further include receiving a charging eventthat identifies a user equipment from a charging component in block 814,applying the charging event in block 816, determining whether the userequipment identified in the charging event is a member of the group ofuser equipments identified in the subscription request in block 818,determining whether the charging attribute state of the group haschanged in block 820, and notifying the listener component that thecharging attribute state of the group of user equipments identified inthe subscription request has changed in block 822.

In various embodiments, the charging attribute may relate to any aspectof charging, and each charging attribute may have many chargingattribute states. For example, and charging attribute representing agroup's spend in terms of its allowed overall spend may be“MonthlySpend”, and the associated charging attribute states may be“50%”, “75%”, “90%”, and “100%”. Other charging attributes may representusage levels of a particular service, spending thresholds while roaming,and frequency with which an account is paid.

In an embodiment, a listener node may send the identity of a group ofuser equipments (UEs). The identity may be a named group, and not alisting that forms a group. For example, the group representing all userequipments belonging to American Airlines might be “AmericanAirlines.”

In an embodiment, the listener node may send the identity of a singleuser equipment. In an embodiment, the listener node may send a list ofuser equipment identities that it wants to be treated as a group. In anembodiment, such a list of user equipment identities may be created onan ad-hoc basis by the listener node, and thus the ECS may operatewithout requiring or using predefined group information.

In an embodiment, the ECS may expand a received list of user equipmentidentities. For example, if the ECS receives the list consisting of (A,B, C, D) then it may expand each of these user equipment identities intoits own list to produce (A, (B, B′, B″), C, (D, D′)). This may be usefulin scenarios where the listener node is interesting in receivingcharging attribute state notifications relating to the group consistingof all user equipments belonging to the owners of the user equipments A,B, C and D. In an embodiment, this expansion may be controlled by aparameter in the subscription request from the listener node.

In various embodiments, the listener component may be a policymanagement system (e.g. PCRF), a notification server, analytics engine,presentation layer component (GUI/Portal), etc. In an embodiment, thelistener component may be configured so as to not be time sensitive, andhence it may work when the charging system is an offline charging system(e.g. OFCS).

In various embodiments, user equipment may be a mobile phone, smartphone, tablet, laptop with dongle, M2M device, embedded device, etc.

In various embodiments, the charging component may be a policyenforcement system (e.g. PCEF), recharge component, a portal, anexternal component (e.g. a bank), a Charge Trigger Function (in 3GPPterminology).

In various embodiments, the charging event may relate to a voice usage,data usage, SMS, MMS, IM usage, debit transactions (e.g. mPayments),credit transactions (e.g. account top-up), plan change (upgrade,downgrade, etc.), etc.

In various embodiments, aggregating may include determining any of anaverage (e.g. the average monthly talk time for a group of users), count(e.g. the total number of users in a group who roamed in the month),maximum, median, minimum, mode, sum (e.g. the total number of SMSmessages sent by a group of users), etc.

In various embodiments, the group may relate to a family, a corporateaccount for multiple users who share a common employer, a demographic(e.g. male teenagers), a single make and model of user equipments (e.g.Samsung Galaxy S3s), M2M devices belonging to a single person or entity(e.g. a fleet of vehicles owned by a delivery company), M2M devicesproviding a single service to many users (e.g. smart bins that reportwhen they are full and thus reduce unnecessary collections), etc.

FIG. 10 is a system block diagram of a wireless communication device foruse with any of the embodiments. The embodiments may be implemented in avariety of mobile wireless communication devices, particularly mobilecomputing devices. An example of a wireless communication device thatmay implement the various embodiments is a Smartphone 1000 illustratedin FIG. 10. A wireless communication device, such as a Smartphone 1000,may include a processor 1001 coupled to memory 1002 and to a radiofrequency data modem 1005. The modem 1005 may be coupled to an antenna1004 for receiving and transmitting radio frequency signals. TheSmartphone 1000 may also include a display 1003, such as a touch screendisplay. The Smartphone 1000 may also include user input devices, suchas buttons 1006, to receive user inputs. The mobile device processor1001 may be any programmable microprocessor, microcomputer or multipleprocessor chip or chips that can be configured by software instructions(applications) to perform a variety of functions, including thefunctions of the various embodiments described herein. Typically,software applications may be stored in the internal memory 1002 beforethey are accessed and loaded into the processor 1001. In some mobilecomputing devices, additional memory chips (e.g., SIM and SD cards) maybe plugged into the mobile device and coupled to the processor 1001. Theinternal memory 1002 may be a volatile or nonvolatile memory, such asflash memory, or a mixture of both. For the purposes of thisdescription, a general reference to memory refers to all memoryaccessible by the processor 1001, including internal memory 1002,removable memory plugged into the mobile device, and memory within theprocessor 1001.

The various embodiments may be implemented on any of a variety ofcommercially available server devices, such as the server 1100illustrated in FIG. 11. Such a server 1100 typically includes aprocessor 1101 coupled to volatile memory 1102 and a large capacitynonvolatile memory, such as a disk drive 1103. The server 1100 may alsoinclude a floppy disc drive, compact disc (CD) or DVD disc drive 1106coupled to the processor 1101. The server 1100 may also include networkaccess ports 1104 coupled to the processor 1101 for establishing dataconnections with a network 1105, such as a local area network coupled toother broadcast system computers and servers. The processors 1001, 1101may be any programmable microprocessor, microcomputer or multipleprocessor chip or chips that can be configured by software instructions(applications) to perform a variety of functions, including thefunctions of the various embodiments described above. In some devices,multiple processors 1001, 1101 may be provided, such as one processordedicated to wireless communication functions and one processordedicated to running other applications. Typically, softwareapplications may be stored in the internal memory 1002, 1102, and 1103before they are accessed and loaded into the processor 1001, 1101.

The processor 1001, 1101 may include internal memory sufficient to storethe application software instructions. In many devices the internalmemory may be a volatile or nonvolatile memory, such as flash memory, ora mixture of both. For the purposes of this description, a generalreference to memory refers to memory accessible by the processor 1001,1101 including internal memory or removable memory plugged into thedevice and memory within the processor 1001, 1101 itself.

The foregoing method descriptions and the process flow diagrams areprovided merely as illustrative examples and are not intended to requireor imply that the steps of the various embodiments must be performed inthe order presented. As will be appreciated by one of skill in the artthe order of steps in the foregoing embodiments may be performed in anyorder. Words such as “thereafter,” “then,” “next,” etc. are not intendedto limit the order of the steps; these words are simply used to guidethe reader through the description of the methods. Further, anyreference to claim elements in the singular, for example, using thearticles “a,” “an” or “the” is not to be construed as limiting theelement to the singular.

As used in this application, the terms “component,” “module,” “system,”“engine,” “interface,” “reference point,” “manager” and the like areintended to include a computer-related entity, such as, but not limitedto, hardware, firmware, a combination of hardware and software,software, or software in execution, which are configured to performparticular operations or functions. For example, a component may be, butis not limited to, a process running on a processor, a processor, anobject, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, a computer,and/or a network of computers. By way of illustration, both anapplication running on a computing device and the computing device maybe referred to as a component. One or more components may reside withina process and/or thread of execution and a component may be localized onone processor or core and/or distributed between two or more processorsor cores. In addition, these components may execute from variousnon-transitory computer readable media having various instructionsand/or data structures stored thereon. Components may communicate by wayof local and/or remote processes, function or procedure calls,electronic signals, data packets, memory read/writes, and other knownnetwork, computer, processor, and/or process related communicationmethodologies.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, andalgorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosedherein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, orcombinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability ofhardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules,circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms oftheir functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented ashardware or software depends upon the particular application and designconstraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans mayimplement the described functionality in varying ways for eachparticular application, but such implementation decisions should not beinterpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the presentinvention.

The hardware used to implement the various illustrative logics, logicalblocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with theembodiments disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with ageneral purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmablegate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate ortransistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combinationthereof designed to perform the functions described herein. Ageneral-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but, in thealternative, the processor may be any conventional processor,controller, microcontroller, or state machine A processor may also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one ormore microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration. Alternatively, some steps or methods may be performed bycircuitry that is specific to a given function.

In one or more exemplary embodiments, the functions described may beimplemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof.If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on as one ormore instructions or code on a non0-transitory computer-readable storagemedium. The steps of a method or algorithm disclosed herein may beembodied in a processor-executable software module which may reside orbe stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium orprocessor-readable medium. Non-transitory computer-readable andprocessor-readable storage media may be any available media that may beaccessed by a computer or processor. By way of example, and notlimitation, such non-transitory computer-readable media may include RAM,ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storageor other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that may be usedto store desired program code in the form of instructions or datastructures and that may be accessed by a computer. Disk and disc, asused herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc,digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and blu-ray disc where disksusually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce dataoptically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be includedwithin the scope of non-transitory computer-readable media.Additionally, the operations of a method or algorithm may reside as oneor any combination or set of codes and/or instructions on anon-transitory processor-readable medium and/or computer-readablemedium, which may be incorporated into a computer program product.

The preceding description of the disclosed embodiments is provided toenable any person skilled in the art to make or use the presentinvention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readilyapparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles definedherein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from thescope of the invention. Thus, the present invention is not intended tobe limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded thewidest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosedherein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of managing group-based charging fornetwork usage and spending in a communications network, comprising:receiving in a processor a subscription request that includes a chargingattribute from a listener component; determining whether thesubscription request identifies a group of user equipments; determiningthe group of user equipments to which a user equipment associated withthe subscription request belongs when it is determined that thesubscription request does not identify a group of user equipments;determining an identity of at least one other user equipment in thegroup of user equipments; and determining a charging attribute state forthe group of user equipments based on the charging attribute.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a charging event thatidentifies a user equipment from a charging component; applying thecharging event; determining whether the user equipment identified in thecharging event is a member of the group of user equipments identified inthe subscription request; determining whether the charging attributestate of the group of user equipments has changed; and notifying thelistener component that the charging attribute state of the group ofuser equipments identified in the subscription request has changed. 3.The method of claim 1, wherein the listener component is a policymanagement system component.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the userequipment is a machine-to-machine device.
 5. The method of claim 2,wherein the charging component is a policy enforcement system component.6. The method of claim 2, wherein the charging event relates to aservice in a circuit switched domain.
 7. The method of claim 1, whereindetermining a charging attribute state for the group of user equipmentsbased on the charging attribute comprises obtaining charging informationassociated with multiple user equipments from multiple sources relatingto multiple services.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the multiplesources comprise at least one online charging system and at least oneoffline charging system.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein determining acharging attribute state for the group of user equipments based on thecharging attribute comprises aggregating charging information associatedwith all user equipments within the group of user equipments.
 10. Themethod of claim 1, wherein determining whether the subscription requestidentifies a group of user equipments comprises determining whether thesubscription request identifies a group related to a corporate account.11. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a charging attributestate for the group of user equipments based on the charging attributecomprises returning the charging attribute state to the listenercomponent.
 12. The method of claim 2, wherein notifying the listenercomponent that the charging attribute state of the group of userequipments identified in the subscription request has changed comprisesnotifying the listener component of a new charging attribute state. 13.A server configured for managing group-based charging for network usageand spending in a communications network, comprising: a networkinterface; and a server processor configured with processor-executableinstructions to perform operations comprising: receiving in a processora subscription request that includes a charging attribute from alistener component; determining whether the subscription requestidentifies a group of user equipments; determining the group of userequipments to which a user equipment associated with the subscriptionrequest belongs when it is determined that the subscription request doesnot identify a group of user equipments; determining an identity of atleast one other user equipment in the group of user equipments; anddetermining a charging attribute state for the group of user equipmentsbased on the charging attribute.
 14. The server of claim 13, wherein theserver processor is configured with processor-executable instructions toperform operations further comprising: receiving a charging event thatidentifies a user equipment from a charging component; applying thecharging event; determining whether the user equipment identified in thecharging event is a member of the group of user equipments identified inthe subscription request; determining whether the charging attributestate of the group of user equipments has changed; and notifying thelistener component that the charging attribute state of the group ofuser equipments identified in the subscription request has changed. 15.A non-transitory server-readable storage medium having stored thereonserver-executable configured cause a server to perform operations formanaging group-based charging for network usage and spending in acommunications network comprising: receiving in a processor asubscription request that includes a charging attribute from a listenercomponent; determining whether the subscription request identifies agroup of user equipments; determining the group of user equipments towhich a user equipment associated with the subscription request belongswhen it is determined that the subscription request does not identify agroup of user equipments; determining an identity of at least one otheruser equipment in the group of user equipments; and determining acharging attribute state for the group of user equipments based on thecharging attribute.
 16. The non-transitory server-readable storagemedium of claim 15, wherein the stored server-executable instructionsare configured cause a server to perform operations further comprising:receiving a charging event that identifies a user equipment from acharging component; applying the charging event; determining whether theuser equipment identified in the charging event is a member of the groupof user equipments identified in the subscription request; determiningwhether the charging attribute state of the group of user equipments haschanged; and notifying the listener component that the chargingattribute state of the group of user equipments identified in thesubscription request has changed.